A MAN DOWNSTAIRS by Nicole Lundrigan

Other Books I Enjoyed by This Author: AN UNTHINKABLE THING which blew me away

Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/9780735242722

Release Date: March 5th, 2024

General Genre: Thrillers, Suspense, Psychological, Murder Mystery/Crime

Sub-Genre/Themes: Small town, teenage boys, marriage, infidelity, memories, ailing parents, neighbors, mental illness, motherhood, high school, buried secrets

Writing Style: Dual timelines and multiple POVs, character-driven, intricately plotted, short chapters, clever/stylish/compelling

What You Need to Know: The author saw me recommending AN UNTHINKABLE THING on social media and offered me a NetGalley widget for this book.

My Reading Experience: Much like my introduction to Lundrigan’s work (An Unthinkable Thing), I was immediately caught up in the intricate web the author so expertly weaves. A quality psychological thriller eases the reader into the lives of the protagonists slowly, allowing time to get to know everything we need to before the suspense begins to change the mood/tone and before our minds start developing theories.

Dual timelines and multiple POVs can be tricky. If one of the narratives is more compelling than the others, it’s difficult to transition out of the one that is holding your attention just to meander through something that doesn’t feel as interesting. But that is not the case with this book. There are essentially three main POVs and all of them had me glued to the page. This author is particularly skilled in dropping breadcrumbs–just little pieces of information that seem innocuous all on their own but triggering enough to alert the reader to hang on to the little crumb for later.

The characters are colorful and vivid. Not all of them are likable, and every single one of them is flawed. This works in the reader’s favor, trust me. In fact, I hate when a thriller tries to win me over with morally wholesome characters, it’s too unrealistic. The story unravels like a movie in my mind. I had this one perfect cast. All the major players are clearly defined with unique, easily distinguishable, fully developed personalities. The female protagonists are especially complex and unpredictable.
A perfect cast of suspicious people against the backdrop of an idyllic small-town setting where everyone knows everything about everyone and there is too much history. Loved every minute of this.

Final Recommendation: Perfect for readers who enjoy complex, psychological murder mysteries set in a small town and featuring a main character who must return to their childhood home (the scene of a crime) to take care of an ailing parent or an inherited estate. The traumatic past of being involved in a small-town murder investigation catches up to them forcing the MC to wrestle with details of the crime they have ignored for so long.

Comps: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, In the Woods by Tana French, Mare of Eastown (2021) TV show